Ordinance calling for sewage alerts advances

Martin B. Cassidy

Updated 10:22 pm, Tuesday, May 7, 2013

STAMFORD -- An ordinance brought forward by a Shippan city representative to require the Water Pollution Control Authority to notify the Board of Representatives and the public about significant sewage releases into Long Island Sound and local waters was approved for a public hearing Monday night.

City Rep. Mary Uva, R-1, who proposed the ordinance, said it is a mechanism to give residents who use the Sound for boating, sailing, or swimming knowledge of possible contamination.

"The WPCA have been meeting their notice requirements to the state and local health department, but there is a missing link in providing that information to the community," Uva said. "The notice should go out in a timely fashion as soon as possible afterwards so they are aware there may be contamination of the water."

WPCA officials already are required by state law to report sewage bypasses to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the city Health Department, and other agencies when sewage backs up near the coastline or is released into Stamford Harbor, said William Brink, the WPCA executive director.

Brink said the ordinance's general outlines are acceptable, requiring e-mail, rather than telephone notifications. He said he defined a requirement for immediate notification to mean within the two-hour limit that the WPCA is required to notify local and state environmental and health officials.

Brink said he expects to notify city representatives using the existing format, including the time and date of an incident, the amount of material discharged, and whether it was treated, and how long the discharge lasted.

"We helped work out the language the way it is now with the intention of using the format we use with the state and use an e-mail blast," Brink said. "If we do it by an e-mail blast, it is not really a burden on our operators."

The WPCA has undergone several significant bypasses in recent years. The plant released more than 25 million gallons of partially treated or raw sewage into Stamford waters on four different occasions in more than two years.

One bypass, resulting from a mechanical failure on Nov. 3, 2011, lasted 43 hours and sent more than 40 million gallons of partially treated sewage into Long Island Sound.

In 2011, local fishermen complained that frequent sewage bypasses harmed their businesses by forcing the closure of city shellfish beds.

Stamford Health and Social Services director Anne Fountain said the Health Department also receives telephone notification of spills and bypasses, and takes necessary action, such as sending an inspector to assess the size and volume of a spill.

"If we get a notification for any type of bypass or spill we send an inspector out to make sure everyone is on top of it," Fountain said. "If it is a harbor issue, the DEEP is involved."